Aquatic Veterinary Medicine Committee

Charge/Objective:

To advocate the role of the veterinarian within aquatic animal health and medicine at the production, practice, educational, research, natural resource management, and regulatory levels for the benefit of aquatic animals; to develop strategies to enhance and integrate the use of veterinarians' expertise to benefit the aquaculture, aquaria, natural resource, ornamental fish, and seafood industries, and the seafood consuming and the pet owning public; and to address the concerns of veterinarians and stakeholders on the availability and use of chemicals and biologics in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.

Membership, Method of Appointment, and Representation:

Membership is made up of veterinarians, and one non-veterinarian with interests in aquatic animal medicine from the following categories: academia (veterinary school teaching, research, clinical or extension faculty); diagnostic services (academic, private or government diagnostic laboratory); corporate or laboratory aquatic veterinary medicine; public health; aquaculture food animal production (private or public practice); companion (ornamental) aquatic animals (private clinical practice); state or federal regulatory veterinary medicine; aquatic invertebrate health (mollusk, crustacean, corals, etc.); aquatic animal conservation medicine (wildlife, zoo, aquarium, marine mammals); and a non-veterinarian with expertise to enhance aquatic veterinary medicine and fulfilling the objectives of the AqVMC. With the exception of the chair, appointments are made for a term of three years, on a staggered basis, with a maximum of 2 terms for any member's initial appointment. A partial term greater than 1 year is considered one term.